Anthony Steven Wiggs when he was six days old. Anthony was born on Dec. 23 but came home on Christmas Day. He is the adopted son of Victoria and Ashley Wiggs. / Wiggs family photo

Victoria and Ashley Wiggs and their son Anthony, now 10 months old. / Nathan Papes/News-Leader

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When you see Anthony Wiggs’ big grin, hear his high squeal and watch him use the sofa to balance as he gleefully shuffles across the floor, it’s easy to see why his parents are so thankful for him.

“We won the baby lottery,” said his mom, Victoria Wiggs, picking him up to plant a kiss on his cheek.

As soon as Victoria puts him down, he’s off again, exploring the baby-proofed living room.

This is Anthony Steven Wiggs’ first Thanksgiving. And at two gatherings today, a lot of people will celebrate the little boy they consider a gift.

Victoria, who has cerebral palsy, has always wanted to be a mom. As a child, she’d play with dolls all day, her mother, Virginia McMurtrey, recalled. But a hormonal disorder prevented that.

After trying to conceive for 10 years, Victoria, 35, and her husband Ashley Wiggs, 36, decided to pursue adoption through the foster care system. After they started the process, something unexpected happened: A friend approached Victoria and asked if she still wanted to adopt because the friend’s teenage daughter was pregnant. The teen was considering giving her child up.

They were interested, Victoria said.

On Christmas Day 2011, they brought Anthony home.

“At some point you have to ask yourself if it’s more important to have a biological child or to be a mother,” Victoria Wiggs said. “I think it’s more important to be a mother ... it’s everything.”

Starting out

Victoria and Ashley met in 1997 at a science fiction convention.

They became quick friends. Ashley would often call and offer Victoria a ride. A college student, she didn’t have a car, so she’d tag along when he called.

Before she knew it, they were more than friends.

“We’ve just always been together. We’ve never broken up. We have little fights like any couple, but we’ve never had some major fight or breakup,” she said. “We have so much in common. We’re geeks. We like video games, play board games, love sci-fi shows.”

They married in 2000 and started trying to have a family immediately.

They knew it wouldn’t be easy because Victoria has polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder that leaves women — often of reproductive age — with enlarged ovaries that contain numerous small cysts located along the outer edge of each ovary, according to the Mayo Clinic in a description on Mayoclinic.com.

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It can make it difficult for women to become pregnant.

Victoria never conceived.

She and her husband decided to adopt. It didn’t make sense to spend thousands of dollars on in vitro fertilization for a “maybe” when she could spend less on a sure thing, she said.

Coming from a close loving family — which Victoria credits for making her the strong person she is — she wanted to give that love to a child.

Overcoming physical challenges

Virginia McMurtrey, her mom, admits Victoria was her favorite.

“Everyone knows this,” McMurtrey laughed. “She was my third and last and the CP (cerebral palsy) had a lot to do with it because I knew she needed me. And let’s be honest, I needed her.”

Victoria never learned to crawl and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she learned to walk at age 2.

Cerebral palsy is a disorder of movement, muscle tone or posture that is caused by injury or abnormal development in the immature brain, according to a description on mayoclinic.com. In general, it causes impaired movement associated with exaggerated reflexes or rigidity of the limbs and trunk, abnormal posture, involuntary movements, unsteadiness of walking or some combination, the description says.

As a child, Victoria had to wear leg braces from hip to toe and had a hard time keeping friends.

“The world of disability is incredible. Once they (kids) discovered she couldn’t run and play hide-and-seek, they’d go away,” McMurtrey said. “I think it was very hard on her socially. She kept falling down, wasn’t able to participate in everything, although this kid tried everything.”

Virginia and her husband Carl always told their daughter she could do anything — and she did.

For instance, in high school she was part of the flag corps.

“She has a very strong spirit ... (the corps) is a lot on your feet and balance and keeping up with others and she did it. Her nature was to try things. She wanted to do everything everyone else did,” McMurtrey said.

Journey to motherhood

By the time Victoria’s friend’s daughter was 20 weeks pregnant, the teenager had decided to let the Wiggses adopt her baby.

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Victoria took the teen to her maternity checkups and was even there for her son’s birth on Dec. 23.

They named him Anthony Steven Wiggs so he’d have the initials ASW — the same as his father and paternal grandmother.

“That was important to me,” Ashley said.

Anthony is Ashley’s stepfather’s name and Steven is the name of Ashley’s uncle, who died in a motorcycle accident at age 19. When Ashley was born, he was supposed to be named Steven but it was within a year of his uncle’s death. Ashley’s mom decided against the name Steven because she thought it would be too hard for the family and serve as a constant reminder, he said.

A generation later, it was time to have a Steven in the family.

The couple brought Anthony home on Dec. 25, which Victoria said was the best gift from Santa ever.

The Wiggses still keep in touch with the birth mother and take Anthony by for occasional visits.

In the past year, this little boy has enriched their lives and completed Victoria’s lifelong dream of being a mom. They are considering adopting another child through the foster care system so Anthony will have a sibling.

Victoria says that every Thanksgiving she has always given thanks for her family, whose support has made her the person she is.

Today she will also give thanks for her new family, and the teen who gave Victoria this gift.

“I give thanks to the brave woman who tore her heart out to protect her son,” Victoria said. “I give thanks to her own family that stood by her side as she made this choice. And I give thanks to the little boy who has made my own heart whole.

“No holiday will ever be the same because of this little boy. And I will never let his first mother forget how special she is and how thankful I am for her.”